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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689204">Learning to be Brave</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light_of_Fae/pseuds/Light_of_Fae'>Light_of_Fae</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Divergent (Movies), Divergent - All Media Types, Divergent Series - Veronica Roth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Tris stayed in Abnegation</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:14:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,902</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27689204</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Light_of_Fae/pseuds/Light_of_Fae</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Beatrice chose Abnegation on her choosing day, staying behind with her parents and unable to leave them after the transfer of her brother Caleb.<br/>Living her life as an outcast she has to come to terms with her decision, but can she have a second chance at a live she has dreamed about?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eric/Tris Prior</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Two Years</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I have been binging Divergent Fanfictions lately and gotten into the mood to write a longer Eris fanfiction. This is (hopefully) going to be a slow burn.</p>
<p>Critique is very welcome as well as grammar corrections (don’t have a beta and am not native so excuse any of my mistakes)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“ I swear it is true<br/>
The past isn't dead<br/>
It's alive, it is happening<br/>
In the back of my head…”<br/>
- It’s happening again (Agnes Obel)</p>
<p>The face my mother pulled when Caleb dropped his blood into the Erudite bowl undid me. I couldn’t do it. I just knew I couldn’t leave her or my dad, it would hurt them. They were too selfless to admit it but I knew it would. My thoughts were jumbled, could I really give up my own happiness and stay with them?<br/>
 <br/>
I barely registered the warm touch of my fathers hand and turned to smile shakily at him. My face felt cold, sweat collecting on my arms, making me shiver.<br/>
My name- Beatris Prior- was called and it sounded like I was very far away under water, sinking and so I stood up on shaky legs, putting on foot in front of the other, mechanically. It felt like I might collapse on my way down, the steps seeming steep and dangerous like they were leading right of a cliff.<br/>
 <br/>
It was the sharp, cold cut of the knife that brought me back to myself. The burning sensation spreading over my hand, clenching it tightly, reminding me that my parents were intently watching right behind me, hoping that their only remaining child would not leave also. Truth was that I too, felt the loss of my brother. Hours ago he had berated me to be kinder, more selfless, more Abnegation. I had apologized and for a second even resented him a little bit, not knowing that we would never return to before after today, never again.<br/>
 <br/>
My eyes zeroed in on the Dauntless bowl, the black coals inside sizzling. I knew that I wanted Dauntless, of course I did. I had followed them since I was a little child, always watching them, observing them climb the train tracks, running after them and wishing that one of them would snatch me up and take me with them. But my wish never came true and now it was too late, I had to put my dreams behind me, I knew it was right to chose Abnegation. <br/>
The face of the stern woman from my test day appeared before my eyes -Abnegation- was her answer to my question where I belonged, there was a strange glint in her eyes, a shadow that moved across them as she closed the door in my face.<br/>
And so I moved my hand over the bowl, watching as my blood dropped into it, my future now forever linked to Abnegation, my destiny.<br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
I woke with a start. <br/>
I had dreamed of my choosing day again. I calmed my breath and moved my arm over my eyes. The reoccurring dream sometimes plagued my mind and often I wondered if it would ever go away, if I could ever feel happy with my decision. These two years ago my parents had of course been overjoyed, even if they wouldn’t and couldn’t show it I knew how they felt and saw the relief in their eyes. My fathers firm hand on mine, squeezing.<br/>
 <br/>
My initiation hadn’t been particularly hard here, it never was for anyone. It had made me uncomfortable but I had pretended. Still I always felt like an outsider and I knew the others thought the same of me, they were to kind to say it but I could see it in their eyes. Some were scared of me, looking at me like I would lunge at them any minute, tearing their throat out viciously. <br/>
I didn't know what I had done to them to recieve such a distrust, it almost made me laugh that I was resented by a faction known for kindness and acceptance, strange and bizarre, but reality.<br/>
It was needless to say that I didn’t have many friends. Some of my old friends still talked to me but we didn’t match, almost everybody could see that I was unhappy here but said nothing. For my sake and for theirs.<br/>
My choosing day had been two years ago and I had learned in these two years, I had learned self control and restraint, still I was too headstrong for Abnegation, my father knew, Marcus knew and they also knew that we had a problem with Dauntless. <br/>
The relationship between Dauntless and Abnegation could only be described as icy, we were on the brink of loosing complete touch with them just like we had with Erudite and my brother.<br/>
I turned my head towards the small window of my room. <br/>
Erudite. <br/>
The only reason why I could never see my brother again. Sometimes I asked myself how he looked now, if he talked badly about us now because Erudite resented Abnegation so much. Was he sometimes as lost as me or did he wish to come back. These questions were left unanswered for me and my family.<br/>
 <br/>
Slowly I rose, stretching my tired arms and getting up, silently observing the bleak walls. My head shifted to the small beam of light from my window, it was illuminating my simple dress. Plain. Grey. What I had always worn, all my life. One glance at the clock told me that it was almost 7 and I hurried to put on the dress, making small dust particles dance around in the beam of light, beautiful, almost like snow, untroubled and dancing around my room like the world around them did not exist.<br/>
I pulled my hair into a bun, tightening it till the point it hurt.<br/>
I never knew if it looked good.<br/>
 <br/>
The house was quiet and my steps seemed loud. I tuned the corner and saw my dad and mom sitting at the kitchen table, not talking, both of them reading something. They looked worried.<br/>
My movement must have caught their eyes for they looked up at me, my mother smiling as she took my hand briefly. I bowed my head quickly and caught a glimpse of a disapproving frown on my fathers face.<br/>
“We were waiting for you” <br/>
My mother pulls me towards our door.<br/>
“Let us go, come Andrew.” <br/>
 <br/>
 <br/>
The town square of Abnegation was exactly how you would expect it to be. Plain. There stood a slight podium with a simple desk and benches in front of the podium. <br/>
Decisions were made here, important ones, decisions that decide not only our fate but also that of other factions.<br/>
I observed as my father got up onto the podium, next to him Marcus. They greeted each other respectfully and turned to the third one of their group, Steve.<br/>
We had arrived early to the meeting and I could observe the three of them interact. Steve turned to whisper something into Marcus’ ear and I saw how his eyes slightly darkened, his mouth setting into a straight line. His eyes moved to my father, then to Steve and then pointed into the distance, focusing on something. <br/>
I followed his line of sight and I caught a black figure in the distance, standing. I shifted my eyes and spotted another one standing to the side. <br/>
It was Dauntless soldiers.<br/>
They had sent people to watch over us, making sure we followed rules. The thought send my heart into overdrive, almost exiting me.<br/>
My gaze fixated on them a little longer, running over the dark jacket, the heavy boots, the hair. I could have been like them.<br/>
My head turned back.<br/>
A glance at my mother told me that she hadn’t caught on and so I tuned towards the podium again.<br/>
A cold chill ran through me as I met the eyes of Marcus, hard eyes, disapproving eyes.<br/>
I didn’t trust him. He was strange, and didn’t fit the kind and selfless characteristics of our faction, no one else seemed to notice it. There was a fakeness behind his nature, just like mine was fake, we were both liars, two wolves under sheeps skin.<br/>
 <br/>
It takes one to spot one.<br/>
 <br/>
The town square began to fill up quickly, very hushed conversations were held between the people as they waited for everyone to arrive.<br/>
I didn’t hate this faction, it was a good faction. It cared for its people, it cared even more for other people. In that aspect the people here were too good, so selfless that they couldn’t see the sneering stares people send our way. Everything about this faction was plain. The people, the houses, the work, the food. Even the nature in this part of town seemed plain, a spot of dirt, surrounded by one big grassy meadow, trailing into the distance till it connected to the outer edge of the Factionless. There the sharp skyscrapers rose from the ground, shooting into the sky, looking overgrown and like they might fall apart any minute. It was hard to imagine that they had all been inhabited, bursting with life and sound. Nobody really knew what happened in detail, it was too long ago, generations separating us from the world that had been and the world that was now. <br/>
The only thing we surely knew is that we were glad to be alive.<br/>
 <br/>
The sudden loud noise of a hammer hitting the table brought me out of my musing, Marcus stood and read the monthly topics out. A lot of it was something that felt like it was discussed every time.<br/>
Things like food. The other factions didn’t trust us with it, even if we only ate canned goods, not fresh and nothing particularity tasty. Sometimes we got fresh vegetables from Amity, but usually we gave them away to the Factionless. Other factions were steadily accusing us of hiding food and using it for our own good. Truth is we had rather not enough food than too much, Dauntless was in charge of our food supply, taking over goods from Amity and Erudite and distributing it around the factions.<br/>
The only problem was that it didn’t arrive. Somebody must think it funny to leave us out and report that we had gotten our share. I recalled the worried look of my father when he had first told me about this issue and realized that this faction had a lot to fight for.<br/>
Another problem was the health of our faction. People got sick relatively often because they closely interacted with the Factionless, treating the sick and the old. Erudite sat at our necks and threatened to hold our faction to gun point if we didn’t soon agree to get our health problem in check, they believed us to be dangerous transmitters of all kinds of sicknesses. Erudite believed us to be a general risk to society, believing we would rile the Factionless up and make them attack the system. And in turn Erudite held Dauntless in an iron fist, ready to unleash the wild dog upon us the second a Factionless even dared to raise a fist, immediately believing we had brainwashed them. Abnegation was almost as badly shunned as the Factionless.<br/>
 <br/>
Just as Marcus had finished his long monologue of the food supplies my father stood up.<br/>
“As you all know”, his voice rang over the small crowd,”our inter faction relationship is not great.”<br/>
His eyes briefly flicked to the Dauntless soldiers standing in the distance.<br/>
“We have decided to change that.” <br/>
 <br/>
I perked up, this was something new.<br/>
“We have decided to send people to various factional meetings to sort our differences out.”<br/>
A quiet rumbling went through our rows, something like this was particularly unheard of in our faction.<br/>
My dad steepled his fingers together, I smiled, it was a gesture he only did when he was nervous.<br/>
 <br/>
“Steve, Marcus and I have been forbidden to go, so we would like a volunteer ambassador for the Dauntless faction.“<br/>
It got quiet. <br/>
My father continued undeterred.<br/>
“As Dauntless is the faction we have the most quarrel with at this time, it is of our highest wishes to mend relationships as soon as possible.“</p>
<p>Nobody said a word, even the Dauntless soldiers standing a distance away seemed to hold their breath.<br/>
For a faction so keen to helping others we were awfully unsupportive right now, and I understood why. Our believes clashed. The factions didn’t mix well together and members of this faction were afraid to set foot in Dauntless.<br/>
 <br/>
And then I realized with a start, that this would be the perfect opportunity to get a small glimpse of what I had missed, what I wanted. <br/>
My mind wandered to the day my hand hovered over the bowls, almost dropping my blood into the Dauntless bowl, wanting to but not being able to.<br/>
 <br/>
Slowly I rose from my seat, letting go of my mothers hand while she sat there and stared at me. <br/>
Everyone stared at me, the outcast Beatrice Prior.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. It's Time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So I finally got around to write something for this story again! College has been killing me the past weeks Q-Q<br/>I hope you like it :)</p><p>As before, critique very welcome and appreciated!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Like it or not<br/>
You know it's true<br/>
There is most<br/>
That you can do<br/>
Feeling so small<br/>
You feel it too<br/>
Feeling it all<br/>
Inside of you"</p><p>- Like It Or Not (Bob Moses)</p><p> </p><p>“I would like to volunteer”<br/>
Heads turned, my father shook my head, almost not noticeable but I had made up my mind.<br/>
The looks on me weighted heavily and even the Dauntless soldiers seemed to stare.</p><p>Marcus mustered me briefly, it didn't seem to shock him much that I volunteered. Truth be told I was probably one of the only members willing to stand up to Dauntless, Abnegation were no negotiaters, we picked what was best for everyone but if we were talked over we would not rage or try to get the upper hand of an argument, we would simply stop arguing.</p><p>I shivered a bit, if it was from the cold or nerves I could not say.</p><p>Marcus' voice boomed over the podium.<br/>
"If anyone is against this choice they should speak up now”<br/>
He waited a few moments, letting the word sink in, nobody said a word.</p><p>“It is decided.” A quick hit of the hammer on the table finalized his statement.<br/>
A noisy hush went through the crowd and my heart beat loudly in my ears, I had done it, my link to Dauntless.<br/>
Not everything was lost.</p><p>My mothers hand pulled me back down in my seat, her eyes full of worry and concern, meaning to ask me why I had done this, but I didn't answer. I didn't feel regret for my decision, for once in my life I had the feeling that I made the decision that mattered, the right one for my life.</p><p>A few more topics were talked about, I picked up on none of them, staring at the sandy ground below my feet, observing the different colors of beige and brown that mixed together, embracing each other and tuning into another shade entirely.<br/>
Everyone turned to go, slowly walking out of the square, taking one quick look back I met the hard eyes of Marcus and quickly turned away from his burning stare.</p><p> </p><p>The chair under me had the same exact hard feeling as usual, but it didn't bother me this time around, it rather made me smile in familiarity.<br/>
Today was the day, after endless discussions with Marcus and my dad I was finally allowed to leave, to go to Dauntless.<br/>
They had made me read through all our reports, the food that was missing, the soldiers, and I had listened and tried to understand as much as I could, grasping at the stacks of paper, them weighting heavy in my small hands.</p><p>I brushed trough my hair, leaving it open today. I didn't want to be seen as the typical stiff in Dauntless, I knew they would make fun of me either way but in some ways I wanted to show that I was not like most of us. I didn't want to be like most of us and I still grasped on the hope that , after all, I wasn't at all like most of us.<br/>
It was generally frowned upon to wear your hair long here I couldn’t resist going against the norm, the simple act of not wearing my hair in the proper way sending a exited spark trough me.<br/>
The dress I wore was, unfortunately the same plain one as always, the light jacked -also gray- helped against the cold a little as I shoved my arms through it. I smoothed my arms over the dress, trying to straighten it a little bit and walked into the dining area, immediately being confronted by my father.<br/>
 <br/>
“Beatrice, I have told you to put your hair up.” <br/>
 <br/>
I resisted the urge to retort something and simply sat down, pulling on my bread. <br/>
My mother simply smiled and put her hand on my fathers arm.<br/>
 <br/>
“Now now Andrew, you know she will go to Dauntless today”, her kind eyes turned to me, “she probably only wishes to appease them by not being so overly formal.” <br/>
Thankful I smiled at my mother, she knew what to say to placate my father and came to save myself.<br/>
In some way she was even right, that I left my hair open in a small rebellious act I would not say.<br/>
 <br/>
“You are right mother. I am sorry if I have disappointed you, father.” <br/>
My voice sounded meek to myself and I hated it. <br/>
My father only nodded once, resuming his meal that looked unappetizing an stale. The silence killed me. Heavy with anticipation, my father had disapproved of my action to become ambassador, not wanting me to get involved with the hard politics and the dangerous territory of Dauntless.<br/>
 <br/>
„Beatrice?“ <br/>
My head snapped up from my now dissected bread.<br/>
“Yes?”<br/>
 <br/>
My father observed my plate briefly and turned his eyes towards my face.<br/>
“Think about the people in this faction when you meet Dauntless today“, he steepled his hands, “I know they mean much to you Beatrice, and I know you will do exactly what is best for the peace of everyone in this system”.</p><p>He couldn't have known what immense pressure his words put on me when he said that, but they made me nervous and for the first time ever I realized that a lot was expected of me now. Reality was that if I made a grave mistake Abnegations and Dauntless relations were destroyed forever. Whyever they decided to put a random member of Abnegation in charge of such an important task I couldn't understand, the fact that they went through with it truly signaling the great despair of the situation.<br/>
I decided to brush over these troubling thoughts for now, I shouldn't ruin everythin for myself before it even really begun, had I not wanted this after all this time?</p><p>“Andrew how will she get to Dauntless?”<br/>
My eyes refocused on my fathers face, it was grave, clearly the answer to that question dissatisfiying him.</p><p>“You will see soon.”</p><p>Not a moment later a loud commotion outside made me perk up, a quick glance at my father confirmed that it was time to go. He looked downright annoyed, a look I didn't think I had ever seen on him before.</p><p>“There you go...”</p><p>I quickly got up and walked through our frontdoor, the view outside amusing and shocking at the same time.<br/>
People were standing in their door, watching as -and I couldn't believe my own eyes- a truck rolled right over the sandy ground, throwing a whole lot of sand up, making everything seem a little bit foggy.<br/>
Children were hiding behind their parents. We didn't have trucks in Abnegation, we simply had no need to, sometimes a train drove at the edge of every Faction, but usually just on impotant days of the year, so a truck right in Abnegation was a strange sight. </p><p>It halted with a squeak, the roaring engine turning quiet, a door opened and out came a small woman with black hair accompanied by a tall man.<br/>
Marcus appeared and grasped their hands, greeting them respectfullay and waving me over.<br/>
I quickly nodded to my parents and grasped the paperwork my mother shoved in my hands, taking off after thanking here.</p><p>“This is Beatrice Prior”, said Marcus, gesturing to me. </p><p>Both of the Dauntless mustered me, slightly frowning at my dress and jacket, probably appearing even more unappealing to them than to myself.</p><p>The woman slowly nodded, and gave me both their names in return. Christina and Will.<br/>
They didn't waste anymore time and Will helped me get into the high truck, which proved to be quite a task due to my long skirt and I situated myself slowly in the back of the car, waiting for my drivers to get ready.</p><p>The engine roared back into life, making me smile exitedly.<br/>
“Wow” the exclamation escaped me, which made Christina turn around to look back at me, my cheeks burned with embarassment.</p><p>“I think I have never seen someone be completely awestruck by a truck”, she laughed, “but I guess for you stiffs...”. She shrugged and rolled her eyes a little bit.</p><p>I smiled at her, trying not to seem to much like an immature little girl.<br/>
“I guess I just got a little exited.”</p><p>Christina didn't seem to mind and waved me off.<br/>
“I still remember when I transferred, I couldn't stop staring at everything.” Her eyes turned whistful. “Dauntless can be kind of a culture shock.”</p><p>Will also laughed now, “Christina, I don't know if Dauntless was a culture shock to you”, he glanced at her quickly, “or if you were one for Dauntless”. </p><p>Christina hit him lightly on the shoulder, acting scandalized.</p><p>It surprised me how quirky both of them were, usually my view of Dauntless soldiers was more like the stern, tough soldiers. But I guess their lightheartedness spoke for the faction. Free and wild, untameable.</p><p>“Beatrice I have to tell you”, Will looked at me through the rearview mirror, “our instructor back in initiation days had murder in his eyes whenever he saw Christina.”</p><p>“He did not!” retorted Christina angrily.<br/>
Will shot her a very meaningfull look.<br/>
“Well maybe he did”, she crowed, “but Eric always has murder in his eyes!”</p><p>“Murder in his eyes?”, my voice sounded confused.<br/>
“Ah”, Will shook his head, “don't worry, he is just very....” he thought for a second, “intense”.</p><p>Christina snorted.<br/>
“Intense is what you call it.” She shook her head disapprovingly, “I would like to see you dangle over the chasm for a minute while he looks down on you”.</p><p>I gasped. How could someone like that be an instructor?<br/>
My shock must have shown for Christina waved me off, laughing to herself, she was beginning to tun red.</p><p>“Don't make that face Beatrice, he won't dangle you over the chasm”, she frowned and tilted her head towards my dress again, “probably”.</p><p> </p><p>Our drive over to Dauntless could only be descirbed as chaotic, between Christina laughing and Will trying to drive and get her to shut up we hit one or two small trees, each one making the truck shake violently. Some twigs and leaves of a very close bush scratched over the door and window, leaving a small line on the glass and made me wonder who exactly allowed Will to drive back in Dauntless. At one point he steered violently to the left, narrowly avoiding a big rock in our way and almost making me smash my head against the window.<br/>
Christina seemed rediculously unfazed by what was going on and simply chatted away, occasionally glancing at the phone in her hand, violently typing something.</p><p>I had almost gotten used to Wills violent driving skills as the truck came to a screeching halt, Wills feet audibly slamming on the breaks, effectively making the whole thing slide a bit until it came to a total standstil right in front of a gate.<br/>
A guard stood behind it, mustering them both and signaling the gate to open up.</p><p>The view of Dauntless was impressive, big blocks of rough looking buildings standing in  formation, we drove towards a section where cars stood parked side by side, the size of the space massive. All around us was commotion, making me anxious that Will would hit someone. Everyone had something to do and was busy doing something or talking to other people. Finally we came to stand, Will and Christina getting out enthusiastically, I followed them in a much more reluctant manner, fumbling to get out.<br/>
The second I set foot down people noticed that I was here, their stares mustering my clothing and turning away in blatant disgust, some laughing as I walked by them.<br/>
I hurried to catch up with Christina and Will.</p><p>“Don't worry”, said Will, “they won't do anything”. He smiled at me, as if he was trying to reassure me and I asked myself if he did it to convince me or rather himself.</p><p>He opened a door, behind it steep steps that lead downward. </p><p> </p><p>Dauntless interiour was much more fitting than you would believe. The walls hard and cemented, an occasional light thrown on it to be able to see something, the corridors ranging from very small to wide in the more open areas. There was loud music coming from somewhere, echoing from back from the walls.</p><p>“So we got here a little early.” Christina pulled on my arm and exitedly picked up her pace, pulling me with her. “We might as well give you a quick sightseeing tour of Dauntless before you have to meet the no fun crew”. She pulled a sad pouty face at her mention at the 'no fun crew', as she called it. I had no idea what she meant.<br/>
The music got louder and we reched a ledge in the corridor, the view through it revealing a gathering mass of Dauntless, dancing, talking, having fun.<br/>
I smiled at the commotion down below me, liking the uncoordinated way they gathered.</p><p>Christina made a wide gesture.<br/>
“The pit, our social gathering spot and general place to have fun”. She pointed towards a section in a corner, I could make out a training mat with two guys fighting each other.<br/>
“Or just a place to get yourself beat up for fun.”, she added.</p><p>“Come on Beatrice! We got more to show!”</p><p>At the end of her 'little' exploration I was heavily confused, the maze like twists and turns of Dauntless disorienting me.<br/>
Will had left us at some point, growing bored of her antics offering up a, what I believed to be a made up, excuse to leave, mumbling something about having to fix the truck.</p><p>Christina glanced at her phone.<br/>
“Damn.”, she eyed me quickly and snatched a paper out of my hands.</p><p>“Hey!”<br/>
My angry retort met deaf ears as she began to pull out a pen and scribble something on my notes.<br/>
She briefly stopped to scratch her head, turned in a circle, measured something with her thumb and index finger, nodded and resumed her scribbling. </p><p>I stood there awstruck and watched it all happen, until she shoved the paper right back in my hands, almost dropping the pencil.</p><p>“So Beatrice, unfortunately I have to leave now”, she laughed awkwardly and gestured towards the paper, “there are directions to the office you need to go to”. She made to go but turned around once more.<br/>
“And Beatrice”, she placed a hand on my shoulder, “if you meet Eric don't look him in the eyes for too long”.</p><p>“But-”<br/>
“Bye Beatrice!” </p><p>With that she was gone, quickly racing down the hallway, leaving me standing there, a crumpled paper in my hand.<br/>
I looked down on it, turning it left and right, trying to decipher her scribbles, giving up after a minute, leving my arms hanging, staring at the wall for a minute and eyeing the steps leading upwards.</p><p>It was probably not a good idea to wander around in a foreign faction, it was probably a worse idea to wander around a foreign faction with Abnegation clothes.<br/>
A quick glance to both sides confirmed that the hallway was empty, no person in sight.<br/>
No one could help me here, I would have to just try my luck wandering around.</p><p>Exactly how vast Dauntless was is what I learned in the next half hour, wandering down the halls, almost never even seeing anyone in the distance.</p><p>I aimlessly wandered around until my eyes spotted a sign reading 'offices', pointing downwards. Hope spread through my chest. I had somehow by sheer dumb luck ended up at the right place.<br/>
I was probably incredible late, probably having already missed the meeting entirely.</p><p>I hurried down the steps, not watching my step and squealing when I felt myself slip. My hands flailed in panic as they tried to grab on something, anything to anchor me to.<br/>
I descended upon the ground like in slow motion, this is it, I though, this was how I was going to die. </p><p>Two quick hands grasped my waist, hindering me from hitting the ground. I glanced at the man who had caught me, a stern face and brown eyes gazing back at me, helping me stand properly.<br/>
“Whatch where you are going”, he took his hands off my waist, making me blush slightly, “don't hurt yourself”. </p><p>I smiled at him, thankfull that I had not actually met my early demise on a stair in Dauntless.<br/>
“Thank you”, my voice still sounded a little bit breathless from my almost fall, “my name's Beatrice.”</p><p>I extended my hand slowly towards him, awkwardly holding it between us as he eyed it.<br/>
I almost pulled it back but then he decided to take it, shaking my hand firmly and slightly smiling at me.<br/>
I decided that it suited him much better than a frown.</p><p>“Well, well, well.”<br/>
A deep loud voice rudely interrupted my saviours introduction and turned both of our heads effectively towards it.</p><p>The man leaned against an office door, his muscled arms crossed over his chest, eyebrow cocked and looking incredibly smug. I squinted at the piercing at his eyebrow, it shining in the lighted hallway.<br/>
He glanced quickly at my clothes, his smug smirk turning into a gleefull grin.</p><p>“Stiff found a friend in stiff, how heartwarming!”</p><p>My saviours hand left mine, getting janked out of my grip and shoved into his trousers. His eyes turned towards our rude interruptor and turned dark.<br/>
“Hey Eric.”</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Friend or Foe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey, how has your Christmas been? I hope you have been faring well and enjoyed the holidays with you family :)</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Eric came closer, his cocky smile slowly vanishing and getting replaced by a mean frown.</p><p>He seemed familiar now in some way. As if I had seen him somewhere before, on some poster or maybe even patrolling through Abnegation unannounced, glaring at us and looking down at us like we were lesser than him. I immediately decided that I didn’t like him.</p><p>“I can see you are already fraternizing with the enemy Four”, he glanced at my dress again, “you should be careful Four, I’ll be watching you”. Eric’s gaze burned intensely through Fours, both of them ready to punch the other one, glowering. It was safe to say that they disliked one another, even I could feel the hatred and I wondered what happened between them that they hated each other so much.</p><p>I hadn’t noticed that I was staring until Eric moved his eyes back to me, the steel grey cutting my eyes sharply, we held our gaze for a few seconds, me unsure if he was about to kill me or just hang me over the chasm like he had done with Christina. My heart beating heavily in my chest, a strange excitement racing through me, this world here, was so different from mine, a contrast like night and day, and I liked it.</p><p>“You’re late stiff!”, the words being barked at me and making my ears ring the slightest bit. Christina was right about not looking him in the eyes for too long, he seemed like a guard dog, snapping and snarling at everyone in his way, prowling his way through everything. I turned my eyes away, slightly fidgeting with my hands, I was angry. It was not my fault that I was late, who in their right minds would leave a member from a different faction alone here and expect them to get around this mess of corridors.</p><p>Looking back up I glanced at him.</p><p>“It’s not my fault…”</p><p>Fours stare lingered on me, silently signaling me something, as if urgently wanting me to shut up. Erics stone cold face stilled for a second and I detected a slight twitch in his jaw, after a second he moved in closer to my face, eyes darkening dangerously.</p><p>“Got something to say?”</p><p>The hissed words heavy in the air, the threat very clear on his voice. I swallowed, nervously glancing at his arms again and then quickly towards the steel over his eyebrow, wondering how much it had hurt to get it. His invasion of my space made me nervous, no one in Abnegation ever dared to get this close without permission, intimidation was not our way, but it seems that I would have to get used to this here.</p><p>After a second of silence, he distanced himself again, pulling his eyebrows slightly up and turning away with a moody look on his face.<br/>
“That’s what I thought”, he graced Four with another look, “so if I can interrupt your talking with your new obsession now, Four”, Eric reached for my arm and pulled it roughly towards him, “we need her for a meeting now”.</p><p>Being dragged around was apparently custom here, the visitors clearly left with no other choice but to tag along or resist the unkind handling.<br/>
His big steps made me stumble, his heavy grip on my arm not letting up, I felt like a ragdoll being handled roughly by a child. The thought making smile the slightest bit, Eric wasn’t very comparable to a child.</p><p>One look over my shoulder confirmed that Four was still there, I mouthed a quick ‘thank you’ to him before I was pulled around a corner, Four’s concerned look following me all the way around.</p><p>The hallways did not look much different from the ones I had wandered through for half an hour earlier, the same cemented walls and floors, the same bleak color but slightly better lighted corridors.<br/>
In terms of faction design Dauntless was not that different from Abnegation apparently, the same view to be found wherever you looked, the only difference Dauntless offered was that people seemed to have places to have fun at, like the pit Christina had shown me and everything here was intimidating. Another difference was that nobody looked down here, the head was held high and proud, they all knew they had a right to be here.</p><p>I wanted to be like them.</p><p>In our path several other members jumped out of Erics path, their almost panicked movement looking funny and comical, entertaining me a bit despite Eric’s attempts to apparently pull my arm out of its joint. I finally had enough when my arm got numb from his grip, struggling to get out of his hold and desperately trying to pull my away.</p><p>“Hey...”</p><p>He didn’t care about my attempts and simply walked on his soldiers’ path, boots thumping heavily on the floor.<br/>
Still, I didn’t stop my struggling attempt and finally he appeared to have enough of my restless struggling because he turned around sharply, I hit his chest hard with a staggered ‘ouf’ sound and stumbled back slightly, tripping over my own feet and exactly in that moment did Eric let me go, making me land my ass heavily on the icy cold, hard stone floor. A few members close by pretended not to notice and hurried to get out of this hallway, probably already feeling that if they did not there would be some kind of impending doom headed their way.</p><p>My tour guide did not even bother to try to help me up, ignoring my form on the floor and walking on. I scrambled to get up, rubbing my rear in the process and jogged after him, his long strides hard to follow and leaving me slightly breathless.</p><p>I wondered how long we had to walk, I couldn’t keep up this tempo for long, my lungs already burning. The moment I caught up with him I earned one of his sharp looks again, giving me the feeling that he was impossibly disappointed that I hadn’t gotten lost again.</p><p>Another turn brought us to a more open area, a few people had gathered around and were standing in front of a door, I could make out the faces of some of them as we neared, a tall man with black hair was looking rather bored, staring at the ceiling above him with crossed arms, another woman with long brown hair spoke to a tall black male, animatedly discussing something with him. They seemed to notice us approach and looked over to us, the black male looking somewhat relived as we neared, and I recognized him as he turned towards our nearing forms. The factional leader, Max, approached us and smiled kindly, spreading his arms slightly apart.</p><p>“Eric!”, the booming voice strong and steady, filling the area, “thank you for bringing the lost sheep back”.</p><p>A quick glance at Eric confirmed that he was less than impressed, “Fuck off Max, you know damn well that it’s not my job to- “</p><p>“And you must be our guest from Abnegation”, Max held his hand out towards mine, I hesitated, and he gripped my hand on his own, shaking it far stronger than necessary.</p><p>I pulled my hand back an rubbed my abused arm absentmindedly.</p><p>“I’m Beatrice.” My disorientated brain tired to catch up with the culture shock it was going through, dumbly throwing out the first thing that came to my mind. Eric had long since left my side, impatiently standing next to the office door and looking, if even possible, even more pissed off than before.</p><p>“Oh yes”, Max turned back to the others, “now that the last ones have finally arrived, we can begin”.</p><p>A slight panic ran through me as the other members of our group glanced wearily at me, my eyes catching the ones of the tall, black haired man, his unkind blue gaze shooting right through me.<br/>
I hurried to get into the room, shuffling into a chair. Everyone else was getting into their seats and Eric threw me one last look, sitting as far from me as possible. A woman moved to sit next to him, expectantly looking up at him, and placing a hand on his bicep, effectively making him tun away from me and towards her. She was very pretty, her brightly colored blue hair making her stand out from the masses. She giggled something towards him, his sharp eyes turning towards me again, looking less than impressed. I quickly turned to look at the empty glass table in front of me and realized with a start that I had forgotten my papers in Wills truck. I shoved my hands in my jacked, pulling out the crumpled paper with Christina’s scribbled directions, probably the worst directions I had ever gotten in my life and I felt my hopes of being taken serious wane. I smoothed my hands over the sad crumpled lump in front of me and tried to make out anything written on it, squinting around the drawings, a snort from the seat next to me interrupted my activity as I glanced to the right. Blue eyes looked back at me, the black-haired man smirking in a mostly arrogant manner and glanced at the scribbles on the crumpled paper.</p><p>I couldn’t decide if Dauntless could be classified as overly hostile or friendly, there appeared to be no in between for everyone I met was either friendly from the get go and giving me useless directions or glowered at me like I had wronged them horribly.</p><p>“Peter.” The man to my right snapped his head up, “walk our guest to our schedule please”. Max leaned back in his chair, waiting for Peter to begin.</p><p>“Sure”, the man next to me shrugging and looking through the room, “your faction has voiced various complaints about us”, he shuffled a stack of papers in front of him, paging through it. “According to you”, he glanced upwards again, “we don’t hold up on your food shipments”, an amused commotion went through the room, “and we invade your factional” -he made quotation marks in the air- “peace”. At this he rolled his eyes, clearly not being too impressed with our complaints.</p><p>“You know, I always asked myself what you stiffs- “</p><p>“Thank you, Peter”, Max’ voice interrupted him, apparently not about to let him insult my faction in an official meeting. “To tell the truth”, Max continued, “we are at a loss here Beatrice”. He pulled out his phone, concentrating on what was appearing on the screen. “According to our data you have gotten your food supply, it has been singed off by our transport squad as well as the storage unit in Abnegation”.</p><p>I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him thoughtfully. It could not be that we got all of our food supplies, I recalled the times when the food rations were not enough, when not everyone got their share and others had to divide theirs in half, so no one would starve.</p><p>“That cannot be.”</p><p>A snort interrupted my train of thoughts, Peter staring at me in disbelief.<br/>
“Maybe you just gave everything to the factionless and forgot”. His snarky retort echoed off the walls of the office, I frowned at him, clenching my hands together. A tension had settled over the group, a silence almost deafening.</p><p>How could he say that we were making this up?</p><p>Erics voice carried through “according to our numbers you have everything we owe you, give us proof that you are not receiving your dedicated amount and we will work on it”, his no nonsense tone reasoning. “As of now, your request is dismissed”. The woman next to him nodded enthusiastically and gazed up at him with an almost reverent stare, he didn’t make any indication that he even noticed her and locked his stare on me, calculating and analytical.</p><p>“But that is unfair!”, my heart was beating loudly in my ears, blood rushing through them loudly. I couldn’t believe that our request of help was brushed over that easily. “I know what is going on in my faction”, my voice shook, and my hands had begun to crumple the paper again, frustration coursed through my body, making me feel hot and tight. “If it’s not you than it must be someone else doing this, I- “</p><p>“Like Eric said”, the blue haired woman next to him flipped her hair cockily over her shoulder, pursing her lips in my direction, “we cannot help you”.</p><p>I glanced quickly at Max, he seemed thoughtful but not that inclined to interfere his members, my shoulders sagged, I had no chance of reasoning with them. They had clearly talked through the general topics of complaint Abnegation had and concluded that they were unfounded, at least this one. Suddenly the dull bluish light of the roomed seemed much brighter, stinging my eyes in an unpleasant manner. What would I tell the faction, that once again Dauntless had ignored our requests and stomped over our faction like it was not supposed to even exist?</p><p>My discourage must have shown for Max did speak up now.</p><p>“I am sorry Beatrice”, my gaze remained glued to the shiny table, “but we can’t do anything when everything has been protocolled correctly”. His voice was soothing, clearly trying to placate me, still the disappointment was not lessening.</p><p>“And the other point?”, this time a brown-haired woman spoke up, I had seen her in front of the conference before. She had a kind face and green eyes.</p><p>“Come on”, Peter interrupted again, never in my life did I have such a strong dislike of a person I didn’t even know. Peters ways of interrupting and brushing every problem out of the way made me sick. He probably had never set foot in Abnegation once in his life and still chose to accuse us of things and pretend that we were stupid. But that was not what made me unhinge, it were his next words that made me boil over.</p><p>“You know damn well that you dirty Abnegations hide the factionless and Divergents with you.”, he scoffed coldly, “don’t pretend that we are stupid”.</p><p>All I saw was his cruel smirking face, laughing down at us. The loud slam of my fist on the table made him hesitate and finally smirk, looking at the Dauntless members around us. All I could do was glower at him.</p><p>“Oh don’t explode on me!”, he laughed evilly.</p><p>The green-eyed woman frowned at him, clearly disliking him just as much, she met my eyes briefly her look telling me she understood. A movement in the left corner caught my eyes and I crossed eyes with Eric, again. He looked thoughtful as if trying to figure something out, clearly surprised by my outburst.<br/>
I took a deep breath, trying to calm down and not let Peter get to me.</p><p>“We don’t like you patrolling our faction”, I ground out, “because you have no reason to.”</p><p>Max nodded, putting his hands up, “you might be right Beatrice, we don’t have a reason to”, he glanced at Peter in warning, not appreciating the way Peter behaved, “but we are supposed to watch over every faction, whether they like it or not”.</p><p>Max sighed heavily, looking around the room. A heavy atmosphere had settled over the small group, Peter was still smirking like an asshole, getting ready to pounce on me the second no one said anything and some didn’t seem to pay that much attention to what was happening at all, the man next to me fiddling with his phone under the glass table, probably thinking that he hid it well. The blinking lights of a game distracted me for a second.</p><p>“You know what, we have a break, we have been waiting for you for quite some time before you arrived”, he laughed lightly, “and I’m quite hungry now”. Max stood up, patted me on the shoulder and opened the door.</p><p>After a second everyone followed suit and slowly tickled out of the room, Eric being followed by the blue haired woman, she hot on his heels and not letting up, leaving the conference table empty, the glass surface reflecting the lights above.</p><p>I reluctantly stepped out of the office, not wanting to move to far away in case I got lost again but was surprised when the green-eyed woman stood behind the door, smiling at me.</p><p>“Hey, I’m Lauren.”, she gave me her hand, squeezing shortly, “how about I escort you to the mess hall?”.<br/>
I looked at her for a second, laughing in disbelief and beginning to laugh in honest when a confused look crossed her face.</p><p>“I’m sorry”, my voice sounded shaky and a little bit unhinged, “it’s just that everyone on Dauntless either seems to hate me or to like me right away”. Lauren laughed at me, shaking her head kindly.</p><p>“Ah don’t worry, Dauntless just is like that”, she turned and glanced over her shoulder, “come on”.<br/>
I smiled happily, maybe it would all be better once I had something to eat.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Please leave Kudos if you liked it, until next time!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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